Cusco

Hi everyone!

We arrived in Cusco early yesterday morning, at 7:15. We thought that our flight had been delayed from Lima to Cusco, but we checked it late the night before and it was back to normal. So we didn't get much sleep that night. The flight to Cusco was only an hour, which was nice and short.

Cusco is a little town up in the Andes at 10,000 feet. I was nervous about getting altitude sickness, which luckily I never got. We are more tired than usual, but I never felt weak or sick. One of my friends though passed out when we got here, and went to the hospital so they could give her oxygen. That was pretty scary! One of our friends was talking to her, and all of the sudden she said she felt light headed, and just fainted. And then she wasn't breathing, and started convoulsing a little. Luckily, the hostel staff was right there, and everything was fine. She feels a lot better now which is good. It was good we got here a few days before the big hike to acclimate to the altitude.

We are hiking the Salkantay Trail to Machu Picchu starting Friday morning. I am so excited, the views are supposed to be amazing! We are doing a 5 day/4 night trip, and we got an awesome deal. It will be cold camping in the Andes!!

Other hiking Machu Picchu, another reason we came to Cusco was because there is a big festival going on right now, with the main day tomorrow. It is called "Inti Raymi", and it is honornig the sungod. So there are a ton of people here, lots of parades, dancing and music! Quite an experience.

Cusco itself is awesome, narrow streets, cobblestone, beautiful large plazas and gorgeous cathedrals. Reminds me a little of a small Italian village! We found an awesome market right down the street also, where we have gotten breakfast/lunch everyday. THey have food vendors, vegetables, fruit, meat, cheese, clothes, jewelry...everything! For 3 soles {the exchange rate is about 3 to 1, so that its only a dollar}, you can get an egg over rice and french fries with an avocado. Sounds weird, but so good! they also have these rows and rows of these women who make fresh smoothies. They are pure fruit or vegetable, whatever you want, and they taste so pure. I had one yesterday with papaya, lemon, orange, mango and banana!

We have just been going to the market and walking around, exploring the city and the culture since there are so many locals here for the big festival. There is a big concert tonight in the main plaza, "Plaza De Armas", that we are going to later.

We also have to change our travel plans a little, as all of the roads to Bolivia are closed because Peruvian farmers are prostesting and on a strike. There are lots of road blockades, and they burned down some bridges. So we might just skip Bolivia all together, and head down to Southern Peru and then go through Chile to Buenos Aires.

Keep you all posted on our travel plans though!

Love, Kimmy